Hacking tips

[Oxfordplum]

I've not done much hacking outside of a riding school setup - i.e. with very experienced ride leader on slow n steady type horses but i have the opportunity to ride a horse I haven't met before out with some other people (who I also haven't met before!) tomorrow at a private yard. Not ridden the horse before and I've been told they are sensible but forward.
Any tips for how to keep safe but also have fun? There is no school so I can't really do a test drive before heading out...
Any signs I should look for that should make me think 'this is not a good horse for a novice' and bail out politely?! :o
Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

[Shiny Boy]

Hi there,
If it was me, I think I would make sure the horse owner/YO was happy, but ask if I could lead the horse to start with. If there is no school to get used to the horse before taking to the open road, if you lead the horse in hand to start with, you can see what they are like with traffic, how spooky they are, how relaxed they are, and they get on when you are happy.

I think if you go to speak to the horse or get it out and its het up and hard to manage, that might be a good sign you should bail.

Hope it goes well and you have fun!